“I’m still getting headaches, having some difficulty with concentrating, and still getting some dizziness.”

  “Are you resting?”

  “I’m trying.”

  “Umph.” He looked at me. “Well, I need you to do better.”

  He sentenced me to another week at home as punishment for not resting more. I was going a bit stir crazy being at home. Vee gave me a stern lecture again this morning on her way out the door.

  “Stay on the couch except to go to the restroom. Period.”

  “But what if I need water?”

  She sighed heavily as she rolled her eyes at me. “You know what I mean. No reorganizing the kitchen. No laundry. No outside visitors, except your Aunt Rita. I will do anything you want when I get home. Stay. Watch TV, but nothing too wild. Rest up.”

  “Yes, mom!” I stuck out my tongue.

  She laughed. “You’re a sassy child.”

  Sawyer just stood back, laughing at us both. They waved and were gone for the day. I looked around. It was quiet. I was used to the buzz, clinks, and clanks of the kitchen. Another week without it would be difficult, but I could do it. I had no choice.

  Exhaling, I fell back onto the couch. Grabbing the remote, I flipped to the food channel. Maybe I couldn’t cook, but I could watch other people cooking.

  I watched television for a bit but got bored quickly with it. I grabbed my laptop, thinking that I could go through Colt’s files again, even though Sawyer had already done it. With all the attention and attacks, plus the extra time on my hands, I was set on getting this resolved now.

  An hour later, my head was starting to hurt, but I was determined. I popped a few painkillers, and continued the search, moving from the couch to the kitchen island to give me a different point of view.

  Another hour of clicking, before I slammed the laptop closed, then massaged my temples. That’s when I got a weird text message from Mr. Jones saying, “Help!” but I had no idea what that meant. Where was he?

  Me: Where are you?

  No reply, and the message went unread. I paced around, trying to decide what to do. Should I call the police? But I didn’t know where to send them or if he really needed help. Was it just helping the students? Help with a decision?

  I stopped pacing as a wave of lightheadedness came over me. Checking the time, I couldn’t wait too long to decide. Even though it was a Friday, it was a school holiday, but knowing Mr. Jones, he was likely at the school prepped lessons and taking inventory.

  Exhaling heavily, I grabbed Vee’s car keys since they had taken Sawyer’s to work. I would start at the school and then go from there. If I couldn’t find him on my own, I would call the police then.

  I hadn’t driven much in the past two weeks, so the first few miles felt a little strange, but soon I felt more comfortable. I got close to the school when my nerves started to kick in. As I pulled into the parking lot, I recognized his car right away, but there were a few others that I didn’t.

  Parking near his car, I sat there for a moment trying to decide what to do. If he was in trouble, I couldn’t wait for the police to arrive. However, I also couldn’t go charging in because what could I really do?

  “Come on, Jess, make a decision.” I said to myself.

  Alright, I could call it in to 9-1-1, but then while they are on the way, I would go inside. With my choice made, I placed the call.

  “And what kind of danger is he in?”

  “I’m not sure. He sent me a text that said help. He hasn’t read my reply yet, and his car is in the parking lot at the school.”

  “Do you see anyone there?”

  “No, but there are a couple of other cars in the parking lot.”

  “Okay, I have dispatched an officer to your location. Please stay in your car and they will meet you there.” she instructed.

  Her tone gave me little confidence that she’d dispatched anyone. She sounded like she didn’t believe me. She spoke as if she was pacifying the boy who cried wolf.

  “Okay.”

  But I had no intention of staying in my car. I just didn’t tell her that part, though it might cause her to dispatch someone sooner.

  One more minute to gather my courage, and hope that the police came soon. I climbed out of the car, putting my phone on silent, then headed in. Maybe Shirley was at the desk and could help me.

  I got to the front doors, only to find them locked. I peeked in but didn’t see anyone. I looked in the office windows, but it was dark inside. I made my way around to the first set of side doors. These lead into the cosmetology room, but they were locked. Next, I went to the computer labs, locked. After those was the mechanic shop. Bingo! These were opened.

  I crept in, trying to see in the dark, unfamiliar room. I’d never spent time in the shop, so I had no idea the layout. My head spun as I tried to force all my senses into overtime. My ears were trying to pick up each sound. My eyes darted to take in each shadow. My nose tried to smell anything unusual. I reached my hands forward, feeling my way through the room.

  Reaching the door that would lead me into the hallway. I hesitated a second before opening it, as I listened for any noise. Not hearing anything, I slowly opened the door, peeking out. The culinary classroom and Mr. Jones’s office were just a few doors down. The hallway was silent and dimly lit.

  I stepped out, creeping against the wall, trying to stay low in case anyone was watching me. As I got close to the culinary arts room, I could hear a loud male voice.

  He sounded angry.

  “Tell me what she knows!”

  That was followed by a muffled voice. I couldn’t hear them.

  Bleep! I think that is Mr. Jones.

  I crept closer, trying to will my ears to hear better. The police should be here by now, but would they know how to get inside? I backed up and went into the mechanic room again so I could text Detective Upton. Then ensured my phone was still on silent.

  I looked around the room again, grabbing a large wrench from a nearby workstation. Then made my way back to the culinary room again. I stood outside the door.

  “He obviously knows nothing. Just kill him and let’s go after her again.” A female voice said. Her voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

  “You said she looks up to him and he was a mentor. He was over there twice this week, along with that manager of hers.”

  “Well, I just want to kill him and finally be done with him.” The female voice said.

  Wait? I do know that voice. That’s Shirley Wolfe, the school secretary. Now it all made sense. She was the key to all of this. She had a relationship with the school and then with the superintendent. That’s why she didn’t need to be at the city council meeting because he was there.

  Oh, bleep, that is the other voice. Superintendent Van Rhodes.

  He had access to the accounts and budget, so together they could siphon money from the school, and nobody would notice. But how did Chief Stone and Davis Campbell factor in? Is that why the police weren’t here yet?

  I pulled my phone from my pocket to check if there were any messages from Detective Upton. Pulling it out, I saw there were a few missed calls and several texts. Unfortunately, I fumbled as I tried to unlock my phone. I watched helplessly as it went flying out of my hands, in slow-motion, and across the hallway. It landed with a clank that echoed through the empty school.

  A curse sounded from inside the culinary room, and then loud footsteps came my way. I had nowhere to go, but I pushed back as far and as fast as I could back down the hallway, trying to make it to the mechanic room.

  “Stop. Right. There.” Superintendent Rhodes growled.

  I looked over to see him aiming a gun at me. Instinctively, my hands went up. A wicked grin slowly spread across his face.

  “I guess I just needed to be patient and you would come to me.” He motioned the gun for me to get up. “Why don’t you join us in here?”

  He pushed me forward as Shirley Wolfe stood in the doorway, arms folded over her chest.

  “Well, look what the cat dragged in.” She laughed.

  In the classroom, I saw they had Duncan Jones tied up and blindfolded. He had a bloody lip and looked lethargic as his head hung limp.

  “What did you do to him?”

  “We did what we had to, but it doesn’t matter. You’re here. That’s what we really wanted. You.” Van Rhodes said.

  “I don’t understand what you want with me. I’m nobody.”

  Shirley laughed a wicked, high-pitched laugh. It sent chills to my soul.

  “You have all the files from that boy,” He snarled. “We almost had it, but that oaf of a lackey we had fell down on the job.”

  “That’s why we had him taken out.” She laughed again.

  “I don’t have anything. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” I said firmly.

  They exchanged a look, then looked at me. Sizing me up as if trying to decide if they believed me or not. Obviously, it was a lie, but I was hoping they bought it. I kept my face as neutral as possible, hoping to fool them with my bluff.

  “She’s lying!” Shirley snapped. She lunged at me, but thankfully I wasn’t tied up like Mr. Jones. I dodged, causing her to tumble forward.

  Van Rhodes fired a shot, but thankfully missed as I dove behind a cook station. I crawled along the floor, trying to put as much distance between me and him. I was not going out this way.

  My head was ringing from my concussion, but I was determined to get out of this alive.

  “Come on, Ms. Chef, come out, come out.” Van taunted. I could hear his footsteps stalking me.

  “Where is she?” Shirley shrieked. “Over there!”

  A shot fired above me again. I jumped and kept crawling from station to station until I circled back around to Mr. Jones. I checked on him. Thankfully, he was breathing, but he was in bad shape. They had really knocked him around.

  Looking over my shoulder, Van and I made eye contact.

  Bleep!

  I grabbed Mr. Jones as best I could. He could barely keep his feet under him, but we ran from the room. We stumbled out into the hallway and right into a wall of police officers. I saw Rafferty, Roberts, Lopez, Upton, and Chief Stone.

  Rafferty grabbed us, moving us further down the hallway, just as Superintendent Van Rhodes and Mrs. Shirley Wolfe came out of the room with guns in hand. They saw the officers letting out a line of curses and their hands went up.

  The officers jumped into action.

  I sighed with relief as I saw them taken into custody. This was finally going to be over, and Colt’s killers would be brought to justice.

  Chief Stone stepped over to me. “You are one lucky girl, you know that?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Well, thank you for calling dispatch. If not for your tip, they would have continued to get away with their scheme.”

  “You knew about it?”

  “Most of it, but not all. We have been trying to get these two for a while. Davis Campbell and I had been meeting about it but couldn’t quite nail down the who.” The chief stuck his hand forward as if to shake my hand. “You did it. Thank you.”

  My mouth fell open. Chief Stone was thanking me. Me. I slowly took his hand, shaking it as I processed what he said.

  “Wait? We have … I saw pictures with you and Davis Campbell together. It was for this? Them?”

  “Yes, well, not as far as you got. We knew only that someone was skimming off the school’s budget. We couldn’t quite find the who and that’s why we had Colt Evans helping us. Shame they got to him. I will forever feel guilt for that one.”

  “Oh, wow.” Colt was working for them. “Well, glad we could get them stopped. But why you and not one of your detectives or officers? I thought chiefs were more of the behind the desk, managing things type. Not investigating or on the street job.”

  “Normally, yes, that’s true, but this case requires someone that could be at some high-level meetings. A bit of a political role, if you will.” He nodded slightly, as if I was supposed to understand. I guess I did. He was part of the city council and could be in all of those meetings with the superintendent and school board.

  “It makes sense.”

  Detective Upton came over, nodding at Chief Stone. “How are you feeling, Jess? Do we need the EMTs to check you as well?”

  My head was pounding, and my stomach was churning. They were already attending to Mr. Jones. It looked like he was going to be okay. He was now talking, though still a little out of it.

  “Yeah, I better get checked out.”

  Detective Upton signaled to one of the EMTs to check me. They decided that we should both be transported to the hospital for further treatment.

  All I knew was Colt’s murder was solved and he had not been doing anything shady after all. I know that Noah was worried about what Colt had been working on. His dad, Ralph had hinted that he thought Colt was doing bad things, so this was going to be good news to all of them.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  It had been a week since the scandal broke. I had, finally, been released to go back to work. It felt so good to use those cooking muscles again.

  “Shrimp and grits, and a chicken fried steak.” Hannah yelled out.

  I got to work on the dishes, sautéing the onions and peppers, then added in the garlic and shrimp. Got the chicken fried steak into the fryer, then plated the mashed potatoes and green beans. Once it was all ready, I plated it and put it up for a runner.

  “Order.” I yelled out.

  I sighed with satisfaction. I sure missed this. Another order came in and

  An hour later, Jordan came back.

  “Chef, Nadine is here for your interview.”

  Nadine wrote a local foodie blog called Dining with Nadine. She wanted to come do an updated article about me and our biscuits.

  “Thanks, Jordan. Let her know I’ll be right there.” I said. “Oh, wait? Did she order something?”

  “Just a drink, but I brought her some biscuits and your blackberry jam. She was happy with that.”

  “Oh, good!” I wanted word to get out about our biscuits. Parker had done an amazing job of creating them, and so far, they'd been a hit.

  I washed up, then headed to the dining room. Stopping first for a peach lemonade.

  “Thanks, Ripley.” I tipped the drink in his direction.

  Scanning the dining room, I saw Nadine sitting at a booth close to the front of the restaurant. I made my way to her, being stopped by customers along the way.

  “Hi, Chef, so glad to have you back.”

  “You look good. Glad you’re feeling better.”

  “We really missed you around here.”

  They were all so sweet to say that. I thanked them as I walked past. It felt so good to be loved here in the community, and that they found value in me and noticed my absence.

  “Hi, Nadine. It’s good to see you again.” I said, taking a seat across from her.

  “You, too. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “So, how did you enjoy the biscuits and jam?”

  “These are the best biscuits. Savory but work with the sweet jam. Crispy, yet soft.”

  “I’m glad you enjoy them. They are the creation of Chef Parker Rowe.”

  “Oh, nice.” She licked her fingers and then made a note. “Okay, okay, so tell me, how is Duncan Jones?”

  “He is okay. He had a black eye, a broken nose, and a busted lip, but he is thankful to be safe.”

  “We’re all thankful. He is a special person to our town.” She looked at me. “And we’re really glad you are okay as well.”

  “Thank you. Yes, all recovered.”

  “I can’t believe you figured out who was behind all of this. How did you figure it out?”

  “I just got lucky, really.”

  I’d been told by the chief and Detective Upton not to say too much about how this all came together. They needed to finish building the case against Van Rhodes and Shirley Wolfe.

  “You'll get a lot of questions. Be as vague as possible.” Chief Stone coached me. “We will have our department give a more detailed report later.”

  I smiled thinking about the change in our relationship. Chief Stone was still not my favorite person, but I had a new respect for him.

  “Well, you’ve solved two cases now. We should start calling you the crime fighting chef!”

  “Ha, wouldn’t that be funny, but no, I was just at the right places at the right times.”

  We continued to chat back and forth. It was nice to talk shop and sit in my restaurant, watching my customers come and go, watching my staff move around. I simply smiled, taking it all in.

  “I think I have enough to add an article about you and the restaurant on my blog. I think you’ll be happy with it.”

  “I’m sure I will. Thank you.”

  I walked her out and then went to finish my shift.

  The apprentices arrived around two. I was so happy to see them.

  “Thank you for saving Mr. Jones.”

  “We really appreciate you.”

  “We are so happy you’re back.”

  “Thanks. I’m glad to be back and so glad that I found Mr. Jones, too.”

  They had now been here long enough that I didn’t need to get them started. They jumped right in as if they were seasoned pros. I watched for a moment. They’d come a long way in the last few weeks while I was out.

  “Hey, Chef.” Parker said, coming in. “Is that your new car out there?”

  “Yeah. I got red instead of blue.”

  “It’s nice.”

  I had never bought a new car before, I'd found the process both exciting and overwhelming. Granny Ines had gone with me.

  “I know a guy.” she had said. “His grandmother is in my Bible study group.”

  He gave me a great deal. It was good to have connections.

  “Thanks. Well, everyone is doing their thing. Nothing special to report from the day. Thank goodness.”

  “Good. We like boring.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  I headed to the office, finding that Noah was still here.

  “Oh, I thought you’d left.”

  “We just finished up, so I was just heading out.” Noah said.

 

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